Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the foreign intelligence service of the United States, founded on 18 September 1947 to provide intelligence for the President and his Cabinet. The CIA's formation coincided with the Cold War, and it was rivals with the Soviet Union's KGB, and the CIA was involved in several covert operations against the USSR and its allies with its Special Activities Division. It was also behind several coups, assassinations, and supporting rebel movements in other countries such as the Contras in Nicaragua and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. The CIA backed the 1973 Chile coup by Augusto Pinochet and was responsible for several shady activities during the war. Since the 9/11 attacks of 2001, the CIA has been dramatically increased in size and has been devoted to fighting terrorism, carrying out drone strikes against terrorist leaders in the Middle East.